EDITOR'S NOTE
I'd like to invite you to help us fill a need in the SoL office. We are seeking a full-time intern to perform reception and administrative duties as well as assist with special projects. While some of the duties are somewhat mundane, we feel that exposure to organizational learning concepts, practices, and community, as well as opportunities to assist with special projects makes this an ideal position for a recent graduate interested in pursuing graduate studies in this field. A full job description is available on our website. Inquiries regarding the position may be directed to Diane Nakashian at +1-617-300-9550. I hope you will pass this on to anyone in your network who you feel might be a good fit for SoL.
This issue of the FLASH includes items from SoL members and friends Bettye Pruitt, Joe Laur, Penny Kennington, Irène Dupoux-Couturier, Arno Korpershoek, Göran Gennvi, Adam Kahane, Steve Cochran, Dan Hilbert, Juanita Brown, Alain Gauthier, Erica Fox, Marianne Picard, Otto Scharmer, Rick Karash, Deborah Rowland, Charlie Tweedly, Nick Craig, Sandy Heierbacher, Katherine Holt, Beth Jandernoa, James Flaherty, Doug Silsbee, Leanne Grillo, and Carolyn Hendrickson. Member-to-member knowledge and information exchange is what the FLASH is all about. Please let us know more about the work you are doing so that we may share it with the community.
Send FLASH submissions, suggestions for improvement, or requests for a plain text version to: <mailto:schubert@solonline.org>
Vicky Schubert
Editor
**TABLE OF CONTENTS**
1) REFLECTIONS 5.9: Insight and Wisdom: New Horizons
for Readers
2) GLOBAL FORUM 2005 UPDATE
3) SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE
4) LIAISON OFFICERS' UPDATE
5) UPCOMING FOUNDING SoL EVENTS AND COURSES
... Core Competencies Course, October 4-8, 2004, Bedford,
MA
... SoL Forum on Business Innovation for Sustainability:
Leadership and Learning for a Living Economy, October 11-14, 2004, Dearborn,
MI
... Issues of Social and Dynamic Complexity: Managing the Product
Development Portfolio, October 26-28, 2004, Marlboro, MA
... Foundations for Leadership Course, November 25-27, 2004,
Boston, MA area
6) OTHER SoL EVENTS AND COURSES
7) COMMUNITY NEWS: Opportunities, Publications, Events
8) TO UNSUBSCRIBE
**********************************************************************
FEATURE: EXTENDED REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR
SoL SUSTAINABILITY FORUM: SoL Forum on Business Innovation for Sustainability:
Leadership and Learning for a Living Economy, October 11-14, 2004, Dearborn,
MI
Register before October 1 to take advantage of extended discounts for the first SoL Forum on Business Innovation for Sustainability. This important event will serve as a catalyst for accelerated learning and thinking on sustainability through innovative best practices, compelling case studies, and interaction with leaders in the field.
Click here
to download the complete Forum brochure
The Forum offers:
>> an unprecedented faculty of over forty world-renowned leaders, mentors,
and guides
>> access to the SoL Sustainability Consortium research and experience
base
>> a unique program design fostering collaborative learning and problem
solving
>> access to key insights and tools via a web-enabled knowledge base
>> SoL's organizational learning and systems thinking expertise on pressing
sustainability challenges
The Forum features over thirty interactive sessions including presentations
from:
>> Janine Benyus, author, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature
>> Amory Lovins, CEO and Co-founder, Rocky Mountain Institute
>> John Manzoni, Chief Executive, Refining, BP plc
>> Mieko Nishimizu, VP (retired) for Southeast Asia of the World Bank
>> Dinesh Paliwal, CEO, ABB, Inc.
>> Peter Senge, author, The Fifth Discipline, and Founding Chair of SoL
>> Bob Stiller, CEO, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Visit the conference registration website, or call +1-617-964-6916 to reserve your place today. A $200 discount will be applied to all registrations received before October 1. And SoL members receive an additional $400 reduction. Some scholarships are available for researchers, students and educators.
**********************************************************************
FEATURE: FOOD AND PEACE PROJECTS
HIGHLIGHT SoL COMMUNITY INITIATIVES IN THE AREA OF CROSS-SECTOR COLLABORATION
With its reach across sectors and industries, SoL is well situated to act as an incubator for new projects and learning communities that draw together diverse partners in the pursuit of new knowledge to support fundamental innovation and change.
The Global Leadership Initiative (GLI) is one such program that is dedicated to engaging, enabling, and supporting 21st-century leaders committed to taking responsibility for bringing about positive transformation within our world and addressing the critical issues of our time. Still in its early stages, GLI has committed to launching, in the next five years, ten Leadership Laboratories, using the U-Process to seek breakthrough results on stuck global problems. Two GLI projects already underway, the Sustainable Food Laboratory and the Generative Dialogue Project, exemplify the SoL community's efforts in the area of high-impact cross-sector collaboration.
The Sustainable Food Laboratory project, launched earlier this year in conjunction with Sustainability Institute (SI) and Generon Consulting, is working to create food supply chains that are economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable.
The Generative Dialogue Project (formerly called Global Dialogue Project), undertaken together with Synergos Institute, the Democratic Dialogue Project of UNDP, and GAN-Net, seeks to identify advanced practitioners working within various established disciplines -- such as peace building, negotiation, mediation, appreciative inquiry, and multi-stakeholder dialogue -- who are well along in developing generative approaches. A learning team convened from this group will define and work together on critical process issues, develop a common understanding of what approaches work well in which contexts, and guide dissemination of the knowledge and know-how the collective effort produces.
On the initial research team are SoL members and friends Bettye Pruitt, Katrin Kaeufer, Steve Waddell, Kate Parrot, and Alexander Grashow. The team expects to add institutional connections and team members as they proceed.
Click here for more information on these initiatives.
**********************************************************************
1) REFLECTIONS Volume 5, Issue 9: Insight and Wisdom:
New Horizons for Readers
Organizations invest heavily in skills assessments, executive coaching, and other programs to develop leaders. Often lost in these training regimens is one of leadership's most essential tasks: expanding people's capacity for high-quality thinking. Though critical to the success of all organizations, we seldom stop to examine our individual and collective thought processes. In this feature, Robin Charbit and Charles Kiefer call on us to do just that. By becoming aware of our mental states, and learning to step back and quiet the mind, we can elicit fresh thought often, the authors say, with profound results. The issue includes commentaries by Charlie Fischer, Miguel Oliveira, and C. Sherry Immediato. View the issue online.
We will begin publishing Reflections on a calendar year basis beginning with Volume 6 in January. We would like to learn from our experience by getting your feedback from readers. Before year end, we'll be asking for your input through a reader survey and an invitation to participate in focus groups. We're looking for volunteers to help us in the process of collecting feedback. If you are interested in conducting phone interviews or taking notes for teleconference focus group sessions, please contact Sherry Immediato. In addition, we'd like to establish a group of editorial advisors to help support the on-going development of Reflections. If you would like to nominate someone you think would make a good advisor, you should also contact Sherry.
If you are not yet a subscriber, you can become one today by visiting the Reflections website. For more information or for inquiries about your subscription, contact David Mahaffey.
**********************************************************************
2) GLOBAL FORUM 2005 UPDATE
SoL's next Global Forum is planned for Vienna, Austria in September of 2005.
The design team for this meeting will be meeting in Vienna on October 1-2 to
draft an initial design and finalize dates for the meeting. If you would like
provide input to the team as they consider the structure and theme for the meeting,
you can contact Sherry Immediato
and she will pass on your comments to the team. You will receive an official
announcement of the SoL Global Forum 2005 following the planning meeting.
**********************************************************************
3) SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE
** SoL Forum on Business Innovation for Sustainability: Leadership and Learning for a Living Economy, October 11-14, 2004, Ford Motor Company Conference and Event Center, Dearborn, MI
View
the Forum brochure.
(See further details in FEATURE above)
** SoL European Sustainability Group
Forum on Creative Learning for Sustainability, November 3-5, 2004, Small World
Centre, Boxtel, the Netherlands
Continuing to build interest and momentum, the next meeting of the SoL European
Sustainability Group is designed for both members and newcomers. This meeting
will start with dinner on 3 November, and continue on 4 November with the exploration
of a number of themes linked to sustainability and organisational learning,
including connecting with nature and storytelling.
The group aims to:
>> Deepen their understanding of the use of organisational learning tools
for achieving sustainability
>> Engage in collective inquiry, dialogue and learning (including introducing
and using the "U" process for creative learning)
>> Create a forum for exchanging experience on sustainability
>> Bring cutting-edge thinking on sustainability
>> Establish projects and other initiatives to continue their work together
after the Forum
On Friday 5 November, a smaller group of members or potential members of the SoL European Sustainability Group will meet to look at their ecological footprints, work further on their projects, and plan for the future.
For further information and a registration form, please contact meeting organizers Penny Kennington or Johan Breukelaar.
**********************************************************************
4) LIAISON OFFICERS' UPDATE
The liaison officer team meeting co-hosted by Unilever and Solvay in Paris earlier this month proved expansive and substantive, as well as fun. In addition to founding SoL organizational members AT&T, Intel, NSA, Shell, Unilever, World Bank-IFC, and Harley Davidson, a number of European organizations including Solvay, UNEDIC, and Institute Pasteur, were represented from Sol France and SoL UK.
One of the objectives for the meeting was to test whether organizations from SoL Europe would be interested in engaging in collaborative work with the founding Sol liaison group. A presentation on the Large Scale Change research initiative that has involved AT&T, Unilever, Intel, and DTE was both provocative and engaging. The next phase of the project, "High Impact Change," was of interest to several of the European organizations. Also of interest was the research work underway in the area of global leadership, including that presented by Nora Hughes from Intel, which investigates the relationship between personally meaningful work and leadership development.
An important outcome of the meeting was the relationship building that occurred both in the sessions and at dinners graciously hosted by Unilever and Solvay at the Louvre and on the Seine. Those who participated in the experience came away with a sense of real excitement and enthusiasm about the possibilities of SoL working as a truly global organization.
The next liaison officer team meeting will be hosted by Ford in the Detroit area, November 16-18, 2004.
For more information contact Jeff Clanon or Frank Schneider.
**********************************************************************
5) UPCOMING FOUNDING SoL EVENTS AND COURSES
** Core Competencies Course: Building Learning Organizations, October 4-8, 2004, Bedford, MA, with facilitators Robert Hanig and Beth Jandernoa
This course conveys the essence of SoL's mission by teaching new perspectives for individual and collective learning. It was first presented in March 1992, in conjunction with the MIT Center for Organizational Learning, and has since been attended by more than 2,000 managers and individuals from SoL member and non-member organizations. It is designed for individuals and teams interested in working together to apply organizational learning tools and methods to practical issues in the context of their organization.
This is not a typical management-training course. The program emphasizes that knowledge is really the capacity for action and that learning is the development of that capacity. Although it will introduce you to new tools and methods, it is not primarily focused on tools and methods. It is based on a simple premise: that there is no better way to learn about learning organizations and how they can be brought about than to create such an organization. After attending the course, you will have an understanding of the core competencies required for building learning organizations and you will have the experience of participating in a learning community. You will have an enhanced ability to think systemically, communicate effectively, and lead honorably.
View a full program
brochure for the Boston course with registration information.
This course will also be offered April 11-15, 2005 with Robert Hanig and Sara
Schley, and October 17-21, 2005 with Beth Jandernoa and Peter Senge
For other inquiries contact Frank Schneider,
Phone: +1-617-300-9535; Fax: 1-617-354-2093.
** SoL Forum on Business Innovation for Sustainability, Leadership and Learning
for a Living Economy, October 11-14, 2004, Ford Motor Company Conference and
Event Center, Dearborn, MI
(See further details in FEATURE above)
Sign
up before October 1 to take advantage of extended registration discounts
and special price available to SoL members.
** Issues of Social and Dynamic Complexity: Managing the
Product Development Portfolio
SoL and the International Association for Product Development (IAPD), October
26-28, 2004, Marlboro, MA
Product development is one of the most complex processes an organization manages. For the past two years, SoL has been working with the IAPD to combine our efforts and create an on-going community of practice in this area. All SoL organizational members are welcome to attend the next meeting of this group. Current SoL members who participate include: Harley Davidson, Intel, United Technologies, and Visteon. For more information, please contact Sherry Immediato (SoL) <mailto:immediato@solonline.org> or call 617-300-9540.
The product development process embodies the three major dimensions of systems complexity; detail complexity (number of steps or activities), social complexity (number of groups or organizations), and dynamic complexity (delays in feed-back between discreet steps or activities). Issues of social and dynamic complexity underlie the difficulty organizations experience in effecting change. Today, an enormous body of practices, which address almost any problem an organization may face in product development project management, or, more broadly, in the management of innovation, is available to companies throughout the world. The issue is not what practices to employ, but rather why is it so difficult to learn, to act on what we know? Today, corporations recognize that knowledge which fails to lead to action has no value.
This session will explore the practices of portfolio management and pipeline resourcing, where the root causes of many systemic product development problems are concentrated, and which are the subjects of IAPD Communities of Practice formed following our June workshop. We will focus on finding the causes of the widespread difficulty we all experience in acting on the knowledge we have gained, in putting into effect the practices we believe we should use. The Communities of Practice and other presenters will address, in the context of portfolio and pipeline issues, the social and dynamic complexities that underlie organizational change, the initiation of new practices and the implementation of successful new organizational structures.
For more information visit the IAPD website.
** Foundations for Leadership Course, November 8-10, 2004,
Boston, MA area
Initiating and Sustaining Profound Change
Facilitators, Sherry Immediato and Alain Gauthier
As a longtime steward of the global SoL community and an international consultant who devotes half his time to his clients in Europe, Alain Gauthier brings a particularly global perspective to this Foundations for Leadership program. Much of Alain's work focuses on the development of natural leadership -- both individual and collective in executive and cross-sector teams. In his current engagement with Oxfam and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, he is applying his insights on leadership to a most critical large scale change challenge.
The purpose of the Foundations for Leadership program is to explore the human sources of natural leadership. Leadership is both deeply personal and inherently collective. It concerns the capacity of a human community to shape its destiny and, in particular, to bring forth new realities in line with people's deepest aspirations. This program goes deeply into the domains of personal mastery, collaborative inquiry, and the systems perspective applied to sustaining profound change. It is intended for everyone committed to deepening their capacity for effective leadership - including those in senior management positions and those with no formal authority. Teams are encouraged to attend to further develop their collective leadership.
The program places a strong emphasis on the core learning competency of a creative orientation and the discipline of personal mastery. Participants spend significant time developing their personal vision as well as one they desire for their organization. Much of the learning occurs through the interplay of personal and interpersonal work among the participants. The special contribution of this leadership program comes as participants discover the profound connections between personal mastery and systems thinking, seeing that deep change in our social systems and in oneself are inseparable from each other.
See
a full program brochure with registration information.
This course will also be offered in spring 2005 in Cambridge, MA, facilitated
by Peter Senge and Robert Hanig.
For other inquiries contact Frank Schneider,
Phone: +1-617-300-9535; Fax: 1-617-354-2093.
**********************************************************************
6) OTHER SoL EVENTS AND COURSES
** SoL European Sustainability Group
Forum on Creative Learning for Sustainability, November 3-5, 2004, Small World
Centre, Boxtel, the Netherlands
See details in SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE, above.
For more information, please get in touch with Penny Kennington or Johan Breukelaar.
** Sol France
Learning Expedition to Team Academy, October 2-6, 2004, Jyväskylä,
Finland
Team Academy is an innovative business school located 200 kilometers north of
Helsinki, where student groups of "team entrepreneurs" spend 3 to
5 years learning how to live their dream through the creation of new companies
or activities. Central to their applied learning approach are the concepts of
the learning organization: aspiration, conversation, coping with complexity
and sustainability. A
recent article in Reflections documented the outcomes of SoL France's first
learning expedition to Team Academy.
SoL France is coordinating a second learning expedition for up to 20 visitors from different countries in Europe and various organizations. Participants will be active managers in companies, business schools, and public administration as well as consultants, who are in a position to lead important changes in management, leadership, and organizations. The program will be conducted in English.
To register, please contact Sophie Juin. Or, for more information, feel free to contact SoL members who participated in the first Learning Expedition in December 2003: Etienne Collignon, Irène Dupoux-Couturier, Manfred Mack, Laurent Marbacher
** SoL Netherlands
Along with the annual SoL Dutch Open which was held this past week with a focus
on de-learning, there is much ongoing activity in the SoL Netherlands community
including:
>> Active community learning groups focused on Dialogue and Leadership,
Power and Logic, Innovation, Systems Thinking
>> A new training on "building a learning organization" (bouwen
aan een lerende organisatie), which will kick-off in October and continue into
2005
>> A new Systems Thinking course being organized for November/December
Visit the SoL Netherlands website, or for more information on SoL Netherlands activities contact Arno Korpershoek.
SoL Sweden holds their regular monthly meetings at 17.30 on the first Tuesday of every month. Location: United Spaces, Södermälarstrand 26, 6th floor.
For more information, please see the full brochure, or contact SoL Sweden coordinator Göran Gennvi.
**********************************************************************
7) COMMUNITY NEWS: Member Events, Opportunities,
Publications, Awards
** New Publication from SoL Member, Adam Kahane
Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New
Realities, by Adam Kahane
Hailed by Nelson Mandela as a "breakthrough book [that] addresses the central
challenge of our time," SoL member Adam Kahane's "Solving Tough Problems"
is a moving and powerful read. Adam, who has worked on some of the most complex
and intractable problems in the world, has distilled his experience to present
a better way of solving tough problems through an open-minded, open-hearted
approach to talking and listening to each other. Not a "how-to" book,
"Solving Tough Problems" is in many ways a companion to "Presence:
Human Purpose and the Field of the Future" co-authored by Joseph Jaworski,
Kahane's partner in Generon Consulting and the Global Leadership Initiative.
Readers will recognize some of the stories and examples from both books, and
a similarity in their approach to thinking about new way to create lasting change.
Adam's personal story and the methods and technologies he offers are both uplifting
and practical.
Read more about "Solving Tough Problems" or order a copy.
** Sustainability Leadership Fellows Program, 2004-2005
The International Centre for Leadership Results in collaboration with Gettysburg
College, announces registration for the 2004-2005 Sustainability Leadership
Fellows Program, a landmark, cross-sector leadership journey focused on measurable
results for sustainability outcomes. The program employs quarterly sessions,
coaching and facilitation, organization-specific planning and implementation,
and cutting edge tools and methodologies. Fellows join and collaborate with
the leadership corps effecting sustainability imperatives and change, in the
United States and internationally
For information, see the Fellowship website or contact Steve Cochran, Executive Director, at +1-717-486-4072.
** Job Opportunity
Organizational Development Specialist, Valero Energy Corporation, San Antonio,
TX
Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 100 company based in San Antonio, Texas
with over 20,000 employees and revenues of $30 billion. Selected by Fortune
Magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work for in America",
Valero is a petroleum refining and marketing company with interests stretching
from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast and West Coast to the Caribbean.
Position Description: Assists in the evaluation of the leadership and development needs throughout the company. Designs and implements corporate-wide organizational development initiatives. Provides coaching and feedback to employees and managers in the areas of performance, assessment results (personality and 360), career pathing, leadership development, organizational design. Leads and facilitates group or team interventions, focus groups, training programs, and other organizational effectiveness initiatives Coordinates work with Organizational Development department staff, other Company staff, and outside vendors. Develops and delivers project proposals, project summary reports, assessment reports, intervention summary presentations, key leadership presentations, and other written and verbal communications. Provides consulting, coaching, facilitating and other organizational development services to all levels throughout the Company.
Requirements: Bachelor's degree in psychology or related field required. Master's degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology or highly related field strongly preferred. Minimum five years in the area of organizational development, particularly with selection, validation, assessment, succession planning, coaching, change management experience required. Management consulting experience preferred. Excellent written and oral communication skills required. Computer skills such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access required. Must be willing to travel 25% of the time.
For further information, contact Dan Hilbert, or see the Valero website.
** Engaging Collective Wisdom and Inspired Action: A Personal
and Collective Inquiry, September 29 and 30, Cambridge, MA
Juanita Brown will lead two World Café seminars as part of What is Enlightenment
Magazine's Voices from the Edge Series at 38 Cameron Street.
How can we bring forth the collective wisdom that moves our organizations,
communities and societies toward more life affirming futures? In an interdependent
world where no single stakeholder can "win" alone on any truly challenging
issue, how do we transcend traditional adversarial activism as we search for
co-intelligent paths forward? What is the heartfelt call to action that resonates
with our own deepest values and desire to make a difference?
We'll explore these questions utilizing the World Café, an engaging and
creative approach to large group dialogue based on living systems principles.
Café conversations nurture collective intelligence around questions that
matter through cross-pollinating ideas, making unexpected connections and sparking
new possibilities for constructive action.
If interested, you must RSVP for this limited seating opportunity. Registration and pre-reception at 7:00pm; conversation begins at 7:30pm. Learn more at the 38 Cameron Street website.
** Learning Together: the secret of high-performing teams
and organizations, October 4-6, 2004, La Maison de l'Amerique Latine, Paris
Guest Speaker: SoL Research member, Alain Gauthier
Offered by the International Leadership Association in partnership with The Oxford Group, this forum will explore the roles of leaders in building learning teams and organisations as a means of creating inspired organisational performance. The event will be preceded on October 4 by a soiree d'introduction (en francais), and followed on October 6 with an in-depth workshop.
In this forum, participants will examine how collective learning is the key to competitive advantage in the information age. As we learn together information is transformed into knowledge, and meaning emerges out of the surrounding noise. Those leaders who are able to harness people's natural curiosity, desire to learn, and search for meaning will create high-performance organisations that adapt quickly to their environment and create additional value.
For more information or to register, visit
the ILA wesite.
** Healing Conflict at the Core, and Evening with Peter Senge
and Jon Kabat-Zinn, October 8, 2004, Cambridge, MA
The Harvard Negotiation Insight Initiative (HNII), a research and educational
program of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, is hosting an evening
with Peter Senge, the author of The Fifth Discipline, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, author
of Full Catastrophe Living. A rare and exciting opportunity, this dialogue will
be moderated by HNII Director Erica Ariel Fox, and will be followed by a book
signing.
The event will be held at Harvard Law School, Austin East, at 7:30pm.
For more information, contact Erica Fox at +1-617-576-7986, or see
the event website.
** The Art of Thinking Together, October 13-15, 2004, York
Harbor, ME
This two-and-a-half-day integrated introduction to dialogue, organizational
learning, and collective inquiry, promotes system-wide commitment and organizational
productivity made possible by dialogue. Dialogos International has designed
"AoTT" to build participants' intellectual understanding and practical
ability to use dialogue as a strategic addition to their communications repertoire;
experiencing dialogue as both a practice and a way of being.
Dialogue enables people to access and expand their collective intelligence.
In AoTT participants will begin developing this capacity through skill-building
and practical exercises such as:
>>Learning and rehearsing a dialogic approach to change
>>Discovering balanced action in a team or group
>>Inquiring effectively into "what's really going on" in a conversation
>>Understanding the three different languages people speak and why break
downs occur
>>Diagnosing self-defeating patterns in work teams and in communication
>>Gaining a feel for the power of collective intelligence and its relevance
to you
>>Grounding your opinions and abstractions in data that can be validated
>>Using reflection to achieve impact on action and the quality of decisions
This program is also being offered October 19-21, 2004, in Macau, China; and November 3-5, 2004, in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, please visit the Dia-Logos website, or contact Marianne Picard, +1.617.576.7986.
** Presencing: Leadership for Profound Innovation and
Change, October 18-22, Ashland, MA
Beth Jandernoa and Otto Scharmer will facilitate this four-day experiential
workshop for leaders at all levels offered by the Global Leadership Initiative.
The most pressing challenges leaders face today require innovative thinking
and collaboration across traditional boundaries--departments, organizations,
sectors, and cultures. Yet we are entrenched in rigid patterns of behavior that
limit our ability to transcend these boundaries and work together to effect
deep change. To bring about the level of transformation needed in our organizations
and our world right now, we need a new way of learning and of leading--one not
limited to reflecting the patterns of the past but one that tunes into the possibilities
of the future.
For more information or to register, please visit the GLI website.
** Systems Thinking: A Language for Team Learning and Leadership,
October 19-20, 2004, San Francisco
Facilitator: Richard Karash
The purpose of this two-day intensive program is to develop systems thinking
skills for practical, everyday use. Participants learn to work in teams to understand
complex problems together using the methods and tools of systems thinking. Prerequisite
for this program is a basic introduction to systems thinking as provided in
the Core Competencies courses of SoL or the Graduate School, USDA.
Participants in this two-day systems thinking program:
>>Increase systems thinking skills for understanding the causes and dynamics
of performance (both good and bad).
>>Learn the vocabulary, concepts, methods, and tools for analyzing systems
and communicating with others about systems: causal diagramming, use of the
system archetypes in practical settings, ability to use the systems thinking
process in addressing complex work issues.
>>Progress on current work issues through class exercises and group projects.
>>Develop the ability to help work teams understand complex problems.
The program is also offered November 16-17, 2004, in Washington, DC. For more information or to register, please go to the Graduate School website and follow the link for "Systems Thinking". Or contact Rick Karash.
** Community Day, October 21, 2004, London
SoL UK member Deborah Rowland and her group, RFLC, are convening a conversation
to connect a community of organisational leaders who face the common challenge
of achieving sustainable change and performance improvement within their organisations
- be they in the private, public or not for profit sectors. To date participants
include leaders from Diageo, ICI, GSK, GE, the NHS, BT and the Royal Bank of
Scotland. The purpose of this gathering will be twofold:
>> To deepen participants' awareness of the underlying issues impacting
their own change and performance challenges
>> To learn both from latest RFLC research and from stories from other
organisations about ways to approach and lead those change and performance challenges
The gathering will take place at a London venue, between 10am and 2pm, a buffet lunch will be provided. Please contact Katie Jones to let her know that you are planning to attend.
** Whole Scale Organization Design, October 21 & 22,
2004, Boston University Corporate Education Center, Tyngsboro, MA
Facilitators, Paul Tolchinsky, Ph.D., Gary Frank, Ph.D., Charles Tweedly, Ed.M.
The Whole-Scale Change method overcomes many of the difficulties associated with fostering change by combining large scale methods and traditional socio-technical systems-organization design techniques. In this 2-day workshop, participants will learn how to achieve sustainable results by cascading compatible designs from the strategy makers at the highest levels of the organization down to the detailed design implemented at the team level. Plus, you will get materials and insight that enable you to facilitate your redesign process with a minimum of external assistance.
Participants will learn simple tools and techniques that enable the productive
discussions and decision-making necessary for change within the organization.
Through lecture and hands-on involvement, participants will learn how to use
the following to analyze and redesign their organizations:
>> Process Analysis/Design
>> Organizational Analysis Tools
>> Organo-grams (Organization Design
Relationship Diagrams)
>> Strategic, Operational and Day-to-Day organization design Templates
>> Feasibility Analysis
>> Deployment Techniques
This program is presented by Performance Development Associates in partnership with Boston University's Accelerated Graduate Program in Human Resource Education. For more information contact Charlie Tweedly, or view the full brochure.
** Leadership at the Core, Experiential Workshop, October
21-23, Ayer, MA
Presenters, Ronald Jue, Nick Craig. This program is for anyone who finds themselves
in a leadership role or coaching to leaders.
As we progress into the 21st century, the leadership skills we have learned in the past no longer create the needed outcomes and results of our efforts. At the same time, the role of leaders and their organizations have become more important in this period of increasing global economic growth, rapid communication and information technology.
Leadership at the Core provides a powerful process that allows one to access, as needed, the intuitive hits that provide clarity and answers to difficult issues, thus leading to more effective decision-making. This workshop provides the essential tools for developing more powerful decision making and for laying out the foundation for great leaders.
For more information or to register, contact Nick Craig.
** The 2004 National Conference on Dialogue &
Deliberation, October 23 through 25, Denver, Colorado
The second National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation will be held at
Regis University in Denver. Organizers hope to have this conference surpass
the groundbreaking 2002 conference in every way -- in numbers, in quality, in
networking opportunities, in learning and skill-building. For more information
or to express your interest, go
to the NCDD website.
** Leadership for Sustainability Conference, October 28-31,
2004, Strater Hotel, Durango, Colorado,
This conference will showcase efforts to foster environmental responsibility,
change leadership practices, and create more sustainable organizations. Gunter
Pauli is delivering the opening keynote as well as conducting a pre-conference
workshop. Gunter organized Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives (ZERI)
ten years ago as a non-profit organization in Europe and Japan. "Fast
Company" did an article in 1993 on his work with Ecover and reported
some early ZERI work in 1996. This will be a unique opportunity for people
to learn about ZERI methodology and amazing projects such as Las Gaviotas in
Colombia.
The program includes Linda Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson (Being First)
as well as John Adams (founder of Saybrook's Sustainability Ph.D. program) who
will discuss the importance of leadership mindset and mental models in driving
sustainable change. Terry Bacon (Lore) will talk about his research on darkside
leadership and how we need to deal with leadership pathology in order to create
sustainable organizations. In addition to the plenary sessions, there will be
8 workshops on topics ranging from ethics and leadership development to product
stewardship and how we communicate about sustainability in order to promote
action.
For more information, visit
the conference website. Or, for more information, contact
SoL member Katherine Holt at +1-970-247-1180.
** Coming into Your Own: A Program for Women, November
5-10, 2004,
Faculty: Barbara Coffman-Cecil, Glennifer Gillespie, Beth Jandernoa, Leslie
Lanes and Serena Newby
The Ashland Institute, in partnership with Dialogos, is offering a personal
development program for women who are interested in engaging in a process of
reflection, exploration and regeneration. The program is particularly, but not
exclusively, designed for women who are experiencing transition, mid-career
challenges, or who wish to consciously re-create the next phase of their lives.
The design, experimental and research phases of these programs were funded by the Fetzer Institute, and the remarkable results in the participants' lives have been tracked over five years. The collective practices used to uncover a deeper sense of purpose, and to initiate the next phase of life or work, have grown out of dialogic and four quarter models used in much of the Ashland Institute's work.
For more information or to register, view the full brochure.
** Being Happy - Yes, You, November 6, 2004, Royal Sonesta
Hotel, Cambridge, MA
James Flaherty, founder of New Ventures West, presents a Coaching Roundtable
At this full-day Roundtable, James Flaherty will lead participants through talks,
exercises, and dialogue, in learning and practicing the habits of mind, ways
of speaking and living that create happiness. We can use these ourselves and
apply it to our coaching work.
The day will begin with an overview of Integral Coaching, and then participants can share specific cases with which they'd like support. Everyone is invited to join the discussion. The morning will end with James conducting a live demonstration of coaching. In the afternoon, James will discuss what it takes to create happiness and introduce practices for doing so. Participants will then engage in a series of exercises to develop these competencies and use them with clients. Throughout the day, the floor will be open to questions, comments, and discussion.
For more information or to register visit the website, or contact Julie at New Ventures West, +1-800-332-4618.
** Art of Mindful Coaching, November 15-17, 2004, Asheville,
NC
Facilitator: Doug Silsbee, author of The Mindful Coach
This three-day public retreat offers in depth experience with the Septet coaching
model. Lots of practice and feedback build competence in using an integrated
roadmap in any coaching relationship. Participants will also design on-going
development for themselves, and receive coaching on a topic of their choosing.
This holistically designed retreat is a great way to move into a deeper and
more mindful approach to helping others learn.
For more information or to register, contact Doug Silsbee, or view the event website. This site also lets you browse or order The Mindful Coach book, and take a look at the coaching model.
** Building Collaborations to Change Our Organizations
and the World: Systems Thinking in Action®, December 1-3, 2004, Hyatt Regency
Hotel, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Register now for the 2004 Pegasus Conference and save $500! "Building Collaborations to Change Our Organizations and the World: Systems Thinking in Action®" will be held on December 1-3 at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
The comprehensive conference experience includes:
>> Sessions with Peter Senge; Cristiano Schena (Caterpillar); Deborah
Meier ("Schools That Learn"); Danah Zohar ("Spiritual Capital");
Bill Isaacs (Dialogos); John Sterman (MIT); and Julius Walls, David Rome, Wendy
Powell, and Rodney Johnson (Greyston Foundation and Greyston Bakery)
>> World Café conversations
>> Skill-building and case study workshops
>> Ideas for implementing what you've learned when you return to the workplace
For details about the program or to register, visit the Pegasus website. Team discounts and scholarships are still available-call Carrie at +1-800-272-0945.
** Learning Organization in a Learning World, April 18-22, 2005, Bangkok, Thailand
The King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, and All India
Association for Educational Research, India, invite you to participate in an
International Conference entitled "Learning Organization in a Learning
World." The conference is called ICLORD2005 which stands for International
Conference Learning Organization Research and Development. The conference, conducted
in English, will be addressed by experienced speakers from all over the world
in plenary sessions. The conference is virtually advised by a globally distributed
international committee.
The theme of the conference is relevant to all sectors: corporate, government,
education, business, and administration. You can join the conference in multiple
ways: (a) paper-delegate (b) observer-delegate (c) workshop-organizer (d) SIG-organizer
by paying registration fees as per web information.
For RFP and more information, please visit the conference website.
**********************************************************************
8) TO UNSUBSCRIBE
You are receiving this SoL announcement because you are a member of SoL's extended
community. To UNSUBSCRIBE from future mailings of the "SoL Flash",
forward this message to:
<mailto:unsubscribe-flash@solonline.org>